MPCALA Holdings Inc., a unit of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp, has won the billion-peso Cavite Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project that will link the Cavite Expressway and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on June 8 awarded the project to MPCALA after the company offered a premium of P27.3 billion, beating the P22.2-billion offer of San Miguel Holdings, Inc., a division of San Miguel Corp.
A public-private partnership scheme by the government, the project involves the financing, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of a 47-kilometer four-lane toll expressway connecting the Cavite Expressway and South Luzon Expressway
The development starts in Kawit, Cavite and ends at the SLEX-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna. It will have interchanges in nine locations—Kawit, Open Canal, Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, Silang East, Sta.Rosa-Tagaytay Rd., Laguna Blvd., Technopark, and a toll barrier before SLEX.
The concession period including project design and construction is 35 years.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board, chaired by President Benigno Aquino III, approved the re-bidding of CALAX in February. This dissolved the win in the first bidding held June 2014 of Team Orion, a joint venture between Ayala Corporation and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.
Meanwhile, Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), the private operator of North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), expressed interest in bidding for two PPP tollway projects also under the DPWH.
The two projects are the P14.2-billion Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) Phase 2 and the Plaridel Bypass Toll Road. CLLEX, an extension of the CLLEX Phase 1, includes a two-lane expressway that stretches 35.7 kilometers.
The Plaridel Bypass Toll Road, on the other hand, is a 24.61-kilometer arterial road that will intersect the NLEX in Balagtas town and the Maharlika Highway in San Rafael, both in the same province.
“Since both are in the north, MNTC will be keen to participate in these projects. Both are naturally expansion of NLEX and SCTEX, that is why we are interested,” MNTC president Rodrigo Franco said.
